Down to the last detail

Joy Millard figures she’s got it pretty good with her job. Part of the time she works from her office in the Hearnes Center. For the other part, she gets to dabble in a little bit of everything: genetics research, weaving and spinning, firefighter safety and freshwater crayfish.

“You name it and there’s a good chance we’ve partnered with them,” Millard says. As the director for the Conference Office for the University of Missouri Extension, her office is a starting point for any organization either on or off MU’s campus that wants to hold an event. The groups provide the content, and the Conference Office takes care of the rest.

Devil’s in the details

The Conference Office’s first step is to focus on the details of a client’s meeting: What are the organization’s goals? Is it a local, national or international meeting? What sorts of facilities are needed? Will there be break-out meetings or spouse programs? Who is the target audience? How many attendees are expected? What sorts of publicity will be required? Will the speakers need lodging, meals or travel expenses? Will meals be included?

“After we gather all the pertinent information, we then start looking at the budget; and that’s always the big eye-opener,” Millard says. “On a basic level, what we do is take the chaos of what a client wants and begin putting those things in a straight line.”

The Graduate Institute of Cooperative Leadership (GICL) is an organization focused primarily on governing and managing cooperatively-owned agriculture businesses. For 20 years now, GICL has partnered with the Conference Office to organize events twice a year.

GICL is a long-time client because the experience has always been well-executed and professional, says GICL program director Kristi Livingston. In that time, the Conference Office staff has come to understand GICL’s key issues and concerns as well learning the history of and ties among those who attend.

One of the GICL meetings is held on campus; the other is held outside Missouri and requires site visits. Time after time, Livingston says, the Conference Office staff has worked to prepare a list of all the prospective properties available and then negotiated with venues to keep plans within budget. “Conference Office staff members have specialized knowledge and skills in logistics — it’s what they do all the time,” she says. “And that allows us to focus on the content while they make sure everything runs smoothly.”

Services available outside of MU

Being connected with the University of Missouri isn’t a requirement in partnering with the Conference Office, but the event does need to fulfill two main requirements: The conference must to have an educational component; and it must stay within ethical standards set forth by the state.

Coordinating about 93 conferences per year, the office reaches an estimated 24,000 people. Millard says costs vary widely — some events are put on for $25 and underwritten by a grant, while others can run into the thousands.

In its 45 years of operation, the office has served as a useful tool for attracting new students to the university. Such popular youth programs as cheerleading camps and 4-H Congress continue to introduce thousands of young people to the university who may have not had the opportunity otherwise. According to research, says Millard, visitors who come to the school for alternative reasons and have good experiences are likely to return.

“We are very much about educational outreach,” she says. “We take and represent the university to the citizens.”